I wasn’t going to blog today because I’m deep in my knitting and trying to finish up three different projects to post pictures of later this week. But what I need to share with you is SO IMPORTANT I have set aside my needles for a few minutes and rushed to the computer. The information below may just change your life. I’m not even joking.

Here’s my super important announcement:

GO BUY ONE OF THESE IMMEDIATELY.

That magic little device is a VeggieChop Vegetable Chopper. I bought mine from Williams-Sonoma a couple years ago, with a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket and a hatred of chopping onions that bordered on total obsession. I HATE the cutting-stuff-up part of cooking. HATE IT. But this thing has totally changed the way I make dinner. It’s easy, uses no electricity, effective and dishwasher-safe. I want to mail one to every single mom I know to help save them precious minutes during dinner prep.

And if you’re like me and get sudden, urgent cravings for fresh salsa, it is a LIFESAVER.

I had all this stuff in my fridge: tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, garlic

Throw in a good pinch of sea salt, some lime juice and a dash of hot sauce…

…and you just pull the handle. It’s like starting a teeny tiny lawnmower (there’s a video on the Williams-Sonoma site). You can pull just two or three times to get a rough chop or lots and lots of times for a fine chop. I think I probably pulled 5 or 6 times. Took less than 30 seconds.

It was the most delicious salsa I’ve ever had. I ate the whole bowl while writing this. I ran out of chips and just used a spoon. True story.

This post is not sponsored or endorsed by anyone. I just want your life to be full of delicious salsa and chopped onions that don’t make you cry too.

Yesterday I did my duty as a good half-hearted urban hippie and joined a CSA.

Actually, I’m just too lazy to grow any vegetables myself. Besides, the only things I’m good at are tomatoes and cilantro and man cannot live on salsa alone.

That’s garlic. I think it will definitely improve my salsa.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You pay a one time fee to buy a share or a half share of the crop and then you get to pick up an assortment of vegetables, fruit, herbs, flowers, eggs, meat, and other goodies either every week or every other week. The idea is you get to know where you food comes from and who is growing it. It’s part of the locavore movement and something I am really excited to participate in.

Our CSA is called Town Farm Organic and is owned by an incredibly nice couple named Amanda and Dylan. It’s only their second season offering shares so they’re still working out the details – which is good, because we get to help make some of the decisions, like bi-weekly vs weekly pick ups or whether or not we’re interested in things like garbanzo beans (answer: yes. hummus. enough said). They don’t have chickens (yet) or any meat (yet) but they are part of the very active community of local farmers in our area and can either recommend or trade for almost anything we could possibly want.

Amanda and Dylan are also VERY tolerant of 2-year-olds exploring their farm.

I wrote them a check on the spot for a half share.*  As part of the membership, I’m encouraged to help out during the planting or the harvest. They even said we could bring the kids and let them participate, since they really believe in teaching kids where food comes from – and they don’t mean the grocery store.

Do I sound like a crazy person and/or some sort of snobbish foodie yet? Because I’m trying to.

The herb garden is planted in the foundation of an old dairy barn. Did I mention the farm was built in the 1700’s and has a super fascinating history? I know that doesn’t make the vegetables any more delicious (OR DOES IT?) but I absolutely love old houses and all the stories that come with them.

1950’s Ford tractor the farmers actually still use. Now THAT’S sustainable agriculture.

Mischievous toddler is mischievous. Also, he totally has an orange slice in his front pocket. He saved it all morning and ate it when we got home.

Dylan and Amanda were so excited about all their plants it was hard for us not to get excited too. We told the kids these were baby peppers and they loved it. Our friend Amelia wanted to kiss them, because that’s what you do with babies (DID YOU JUST DIE OF CUTENESS?) Evan was fascinated and did a great job looking with his eyes and not with his hands (whoa, major dad flashback).

My only real concern is that I am not awesome at cooking and serving veggies. I know that makes joining a CSA seem sort of silly, but my hope is that once I have all these vegetables in my house I will be FORCED to use them or lose them. They’ve got 37 types of veggies planned (plus flowers and herbs and possibly berries) so I’m really going to be stretching to find recipes that my family will eat. And by my family I 1000000% mean E. I can probably bribe the toddler into trying stuff but my husband is cheeseburger and pizza kind of guy. I may end up buying one of those “hide the veggies in the cupcakes!” kind of cookbooks.

That’s Caroline’s excited face. She knows that there is some AWESOME homemade baby food coming her way once we start getting our shares.

*In case you were curious, a half share cost $225. I figure that’s pretty much the deal of the decade, especially because everything will be organic. I spent at least that much on produce in 4 or 5 weeks of grocery shopping and the growing season is much longer than that.

PREPARE FOR THE ATTACK OF THE 2ND BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

Sunday:

BJ's run for party supplies

I glued these to toothpicks, to make sharp pointy things the kids wanted to play with. Genius.

I tried out my cake recipe and disovered piping adorable swirls of frosting onto cupcakes is a lot harder than it looks

Monday:

My kitchen counters became ground zero for all the junk I needed to put away

I went to Joann's and did NOT buy the fancy bedazzler. It took a lot of will power.

Balloons for Little Evan's birthday photos

Tuesday:

I made a quick birthday shirt for Little Evan to wear to Stroller Strides

Celebrating his birthday by crawling under his dog instead of letting me take his picture

And then Little Evan refused to sit in his stroller for a picture. At least Caroline is still forced to pose for me.

Wednesday:

When you're 2, Mommy lets you play on her iPad. Sometimes. With a lot of supervision.

We went to Target & got Starbucks - Evan gets a cup of whipped cream so he doesn't feel left out

Caroline reminds me she lives here too by being adorable

Playing with his new Color Wonder finger paints. NON-TOXIC finger paints. Because yeah, he ate some.

Thursday:

The baking aisle is fascinating

His new favorite word is "Messsssss!" so he makes them just to say it

My parents came into town for the party & took us out to dinner. Little Evan was super well behaved.

Friday:

I tried to find a polka dot shirt/dress for the party and discovered I am WAY too old for Forever 21. Apparently 29 is when you stop being 21 forever.

He's blurry because he didn't stand still the ENTIRE DAY. No nap either.

We finally got the crib up in Caroline's nursery so she can actually sleep there (someday)

Saturday (Part 1):

It's a good think I started baking at 8 am because I frosted the cake at 1:45 - the party started at 2.

The remains of my cake, after the party. It was delicious.

Birthday spoils. We have such amazing and generous friends and family!

Saturday (Part 2):

My folks watched the kids so E and I could have a date night, so we went to Mohegan Sun Casino (5 minutes from our house)

This is The Atrium, the martini bar in the middle of the casino. The whole place is so gorgeous. (This pic is SOOC and by C I mean iPhone)

My 2 favorite kinds of food - fancy and Mexican - from Sol Toro

Our winnings! Ok, not really. We broke exactly even after an hour and a half of blackjack. That totally counts as a win though.

The casino also has Krispy Kreme. Best place ever? I THINK SO. I had a lemon-filled.

The week was totally crazy but Saturday was SO much fun it was all worth it. Celebrating 2 years of being a mommy (because, really, that’s what a huge birthday is when your kid is 2) followed by grown up fun (for the first time since I became a mommy) made for the best day ever. Even if E and I were both totally exhausted and came home at 10:30 to crash. I am so grateful to my parents & my Aunt Susan who came up to help. But now the crazy time is over and I cannot even describe to you how much sitting down and laziness will be occurring around here today. SO MUCH SITTING DOWN.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

At 7:21 tonight, I will have kept Evan alive for exactly 2 years. All the cliched stuff you’ve ever read about babies getting older totally applies here: I can’t even remember my life before I had him, the time has gone so fast, he’s made me a better person, cherish every moment because before you know it they’ll be walking and talking and leaving you in their dust as they run off to play with their friends. But those are cliches because they are all SO TRUE but shockingly, they still caught me by surprise. Where did my teeny tiny little baby go? Why is he sleeping in a big boy bed and eating cereal and milk with a spoon and asking me if I’m hurt when I cry? Who let him get so grown up and have all these opinions about stuff?

The truth is I can’t be too sad because this age is just SO MUCH FUN I can barely stand it. We read tons of books. He picks out outfits. He can play on his own for long periods of time but still wants us to watch him do silly things. There are balls and blocks and crayons and stamps and stickers all over my house. He’s also a super good helper. He’s in charge of putting the soap in the dishwasher and starting it, unloading the silverware, putting his dishes in the sink, putting his jammies in the hamper in the morning, and feeding the dog (most of the above with a liiiiittle assistance from mama). He loves to help with the baby too, and loves holding her and talking to her. I put them in the side-by-side stroller at Stroller Strides and he “shared” his laptop and tried to share his sippy cup when she fussed. It’s heart-meltingly cute to see them together.

But no matter how big and grown up and independent he gets, he’ll always be my baby.

The balloons I bought for these pictures made his WEEK. Wait until he sees his party on Saturday. I’m actually worried his little body might explode with joy. And coming soon here on the blog: first haircut, big boy room makeover, 2nd birthday party details and pics. It’s such an exciting time in the Davis household!

24 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Names at least six body parts – He can sing almost all of “head, shoulders, knees and toes”, so that’s 8 body parts right there. He also really loves teeth.
• Half of speech is understandable – To ME? Yes, probably 50%. To other people? Probably closer to 30%. He still babbles a lot, although I think he thinks he’s talking.
• Makes two- to three-word sentences – Yes, especially if they involve someone falling down. “Uh oh, I fell down!” “Uh oh, mama fell down!” “Uh oh, bebeh fell down!” He also recently started saying “Dada at work. On boat!” because I told him his dada worked on a boat. It’s easier than explaining “submarine” or “sometimes in an office but he goes to boats a lot”.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Talks about self – See “falling down” above. He will also tell me how he feels – sad, wet, tired (night night), hurt – but doesn’t say his name, although he does know it.
• Arranges things in categories – Ummm…I’m not sure we play any games that would encourage that. Although our friend Merin sent him some little plastic dog figures he LOVES and he definitely arranges them all together. And then kicks them.
• Can walk down stairs – Yes, with or without a railing. He also refuses to hold my hand while he does it.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Begins to understand abstract concepts (e.g., sooner and later) – He knows “one minute” means later but isn’t always happy to hear it.
• Becomes attuned to gender differences – I don’t think so, especially based on his love of wearing my jewelry and his attempts to put on mascara every morning. Although I think as Caroline gets older he might start to notice.
• Learns to jump – He has been jumping correctly – both feet off the floor – for months. He’s got fantastic gross motor skills. Seriously. He can already do most of the things on the next milestone chart up, as long as it involves physical abilities. Not so much with the talking.

Other stuff I don’t want to forget: He really, really loves lying down, especially if he has a blanket and a cup of milk. He doesn’t eat very much but is willing to try new stuff without too much of a battle. His favorite shows are The Price is Right and reruns of Friends (I’m teaching him to clap during the theme song) because we’re never home for actual kid’s shows and don’t have cable. His favorite books are “A Child’s Goodnight Book” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” – both were mine when I was a child. He will sit through a longish story book but still likes the naming-things books too. Sometimes he gets out of his big boy bed when he’s supposed to be napping, but he’ll climb back in when he’s tired and wants to sleep. He can take off his shirt and put it on again (although it might be backwards or inside out) and takes off his pajamas most mornings. He loves to stretch at the end of Stroller Strides because he knows it means he will get to run around in a minute. He is extremely loud and active at home but gets overwhelmed and sort of quiet when there are lots of other children around. He’s still willing to be held by strangers and gives out hugs and kisses to practically anyone who asks. Brutus is still his best friend. I love him.

Only 2 years from this...

...to this. Amazing.

I didn’t miss Little Evan’s monthday on Saturday, I was just too busy enjoying spending time with him this weekend to bother to sit down and write an update. He’s turning into a little person more and more every single day and it’s an amazing transition to watch. Just this week he found two of my vintage doll house people – the father and the little boy – and he’s been carrying them around making up pretend stories and adventures. They rode on cars and rode on the dog and sat in chairs and ate stuff and talked to each other. I named the father Joe and after Joe told Little Evan to be nice to his mommy Little Evan gave me a kiss. I think maybe next time Joe is going to tell him to pick up his toys, eat his vegetables, and take more naps.

Although really, naps aren’t our problem. Anytime between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm that he starts looking tired he’s more than happy to head upstairs for some shut-eye. A sippy cup of milk and a blankie are his only requests, although if I let him take a book to bed he’ll “read” it before he zonks out. Bedtimes are almost the same, but Daddy does bath and pj’s first. It’s nice to have at least one consistently easy toddler thing – and for it to be such a BIG thing – especially on days when everything else feels like a battle.

Speaking of battles, we’re currently in the middle of one involving food and how it is prepared/served. It all changes daily, which is beyond frustrating. The whole apple he loved yesterday gets thrown across the room today or the yogurt he was eating from the container 30 seconds ago is suddenly not good enough unless it’s in a BOWL. I have to let him choose his own utensils or nothing gets eaten at all. If I put the plate on the desk and he wanted to eat at the counter the meal is ruined. I try to be accommodating because I know he’s just trying to control one of the few things he can in his great big world but food isn’t optional. He HAS to eat. The worst part is I doubt “picky eating” is a phase that ends anytime soon.

Little Evan’s favorite things this month include the dog, the cats, his vintage wooden desk, his alphabet flashcards, sitting on the couch with mama or daddy, coloring with chalk, reaching things he’s not supposed to touch, and getting anyone who comes into the house to pick him up. His least favorite things include leaving anywhere he’s having fun, being told “no”, and sitting in the shopping cart. All those least favorites makes taking him on errands all sorts of challenging, so my evenings and weekends are now busy with those sorts of things.

I’m excited about Little Evan’s upcoming birthday but of course sad that his days of being 1 are numbered. 2 is going to be a whole new adventure!!

23 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Names simple picture in a book – Yes! He’s very good at this now, especially the books with animals. Maybe exclusively books with animals. I’m not actually sure we own any books that don’t contain animals.
• Uses 50 to 70 words – I never did get around to making a list of words but I would say we’re up to about 60 or 70 on a regular basis. Plus he’ll repeat almost anything and picks up new words on a daily basis.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Opens doors – Yes, including our back door which is going to be a problem.
• Sings simple tunes – If by “simple tunes” you mean “the theme song to How I Met Your Mother or Battlestar Galactica”, then yes. In case you think I’m a horrible mother, he can also sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”. And several Ke$ha songs. Maybe I am a horrible mother.
• Takes more of an interest in playing with other kids – He has ALWAYS liked playing with other kids. He’s very good at sharing too, which always makes me a proud mama.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Talks about self (likes, dislikes) – No. I’m not sure he even knows what he likes or dislikes. It changes on a minute by minute basis.
• Asks “why?” – Not yet. Can I add “thank god”?